(23) Risk Worth Taking

Sorry for any grammatical mistakes!! Enjoy 😎

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"Yeah, baby, bring em back!" Meredith yelled, holding her arms straight above her head in victory.

Makennah successfully evaded Theo for the past hour by convincing her friends to step outside and pick up a game of beer pong. Meredith and Makennah teamed up and so far, they were creaming Penny and Grace. It might have had a little bit to do with the fact that Grace and Penny were pretty drunk while Meredith and Makennah aired on the side of tipsy although the last beer she chugged - because she wasn't drunk enough to play the game according to Grace - was gradually tipping her over the edge again to drunk.

Makennah and Meredith just hit a double so Grace and Penny rolled the balls back. They were down to two cups and Grace and Penny were getting miserably drunk. Grace laughed at everything, and Penny wasn't far behind.

"Y'all ready to get wet?" Meredith antagonized.

"This is so not fair! Grace is an awful parent!" Penny whines and shoved Grace out of the way.

Grace stumbled and grabbed onto the table. "Hey the drunker you are the easier it is to play!"

"That's only what the really drunk people say," Makennah yelled. "Let's do!" She elbowed Meredith to take her shot.

"Should we death cup?" Meredith whispered.

"I never bench on that. Let's just take them out of their misery!" Makennah was more than ready to witness her friends eat it by losing the game and therefore having to jump in the pool - they raised the stakes early on.

"You first, your majesty." Meredith motioned for Makennah to proceed.

"My pleasure!" Curtsying pretty, Makennah sunk the plastic white ball in one of the red solo cups and Meredith ended the game by winning the last cup.

Meredith clapped her hands slowly. "In the pool, bitches!"

Waving her hands over her head, Makennah started to sing. "We are the champions. We are the champions! No time for losers..." she pointed to her friends. "Cause we are the champions!"

"Sing it, Mack!" Nick chimed in on the porch where he stood overlooking their game.

Makennah realized that most of the party had cleared out. The four of them lost track of time playing their game.

"I hate you for doing this!" Penny wallowed in self-pity as she approached the shiny pool with Grace.

"Oh relax!" Letting out a war cry, Grace hopped across the lawn and cannon-balled into the pool. Meredith gave her a round of applause.

"Ughhh!!" Screaming dreadfully, Penny dropped her phone in the grass and slipped into the pool with a splash.

Matt and Cassandra joined Nick on the patio. Theo wasn't far behind. Instantly, Makennah's body flamed with heat from embarrassment. She wouldn't be able to hide from him much longer.

"Mack, you about ready?" Matt asked across the lawn.

"Yeah!" She yelled back, drawing her winning partner into a hug. Makennah wasn't one for close intimacy with friends but these girls were starting to transform her. She was lucky to have them.

"Where are we staying?" She asked when she climbed the patio stairs.

"My place," Theo said from the back.

"Let's go!" Nick called everyone to order and rounded up Josh to head out.

"Who's driving?" She asked quietly. She didn't wanna be that person but in no way, shape, or form did she condone drunk driving. Or even tipsy driving.

Nick spoke up. "Theo lives a couple houses down."

Alright if Theo lived in this neighborhood, that mean his parents were loaded. Every house was easily a million dollars in beauty and grandiosity.

"Mack, grab your stuff from the Jeep and start walking," Matt instructed as he unlocked the Jeep and got his own stuff. "Hey, Theo, can Cassandra stay?"

Somehow someway, Theo weaved through their group to end up at her side. "Yeah as long as you're quiet. My parents should be gone in the morning by the time we wake up." He turned to her suddenly and started walking away. "You coming, Thomas?"

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Makennah slammed the Jeep door shut and started walking, breezing right past him. His chuckle followed her down the sidewalk.

Makennah was a little too drunk to take in the beauty of his mansion. Theo pressed a finger to his lips before letting everyone inside. All of the Sinclair's plus Makennah and Cassandra piled inside. Theo pointed upstairs and they all silently proceeded to climb upwards.

Matt tugged Cassandra into a bedroom at the end of the hall. The air conditioning kicked on, blowing cool air down the hall that circled an open veranda that overlooked the great room downstairs. A huge chandelier sparkled in the moonlight, casting organic shadows on their faces.

As if they had done this before, Nick and Josh also claimed their own rooms while Makennah stood there wondering what to do. The hallway cleared out too fast and she was left alone with Theo.

"So..." she started. "Where do I go?" She whispered.

Theo approached Makennah slowly and glanced down the hallways making sure they were alone. "You stay with me."

Her mouth fell open. She didn't hear him right. She couldn't have. "What?"

Without touching her, Theo backed her up just by crowding her space. Her back hit a doorknob. "You're staying with me," he repeated.

"No I'm not," she whispered, reaching behind her to cover the doorknob from poking her in the back.

"Yes you are. And you need to keep your voice down so no one hears us. And you need to stop fighting me so that Matt or anybody else doesn't see us sneak in my room." Theo's hand snaked behind Makennah and covered her hand with his own. He twisted the doorknob and cracked the door open.

The only thing Makennah could think to say was, "I'm whispering quietly," because the only other nerve wracking thought coursing through her brain was her and Theo together. In his bed.

"I'll keep my hands to myself," he promised. "Mostly." A smirk bloomed on his face as he pushed his bedroom door wide open. Her arm fell back to her side as Theo nudged Makennah backwards into his room.

Darkness enveloped them completely as he kicked his door shut. Moonlight played through the open blinds of two windows on both sides of his queen size bed. A little gaming area surrounding a mounted tv on the wall clustered together on her right.

"Are you sure there isn't another room for me?" For some reason, she kept whispering.

Theo trailed after her, purposefully crowding her space and standing too close. His hand cupped her shoulder and dragged the bag down her arm until it plopped on the floor. "I'm positive."

"I'll stay on the couch," she offered as an option.

"No, you'll stay in the bed. With me," he insisted. Some of the haze in his eyes had disappeared from sobering up.

"I'll pass."

Theo cheekily grinned. He backed her up some more. "See your lips say one thing and your face says another. Interestingly, I've been thinking about those lips all night."

Makennah gulped and willed her body not to react to his words. "Have you?"

"Definitely. And your very enticing long legs."

"Not that long," she countered. She couldn't think straight with him looking at her like that.

Makennah took another step back and he matched that. When Makennah looked into his eyes, the muscles in her stomach tightened from the intent hot gaze he slid over her face and neck down to her chest.

"I've been thinking about other things too. Spurred on by that video." His voice turned husky as he bent his head to get a better look in her eyes.

The intensity of that look caused Makennah to slide backwards some more until she couldn't anymore because her back hit a wall. Theo eased up in front of her and leaned over her, placing both of his hands on the wall beside her head. This close to her, she was struck again by how tall and muscular he was with wide sculpted shoulders and a lean torso.

Her brain couldn't form one coherent thought other than the fact she thoroughly enjoyed how he made her feel. He never even touched her and her body felt ablaze with warmth. She smooshed herself to the wall behind her and tilted her head back.

His lips parted slightly and he sighed. Theo's eyes cascaded over her nose and lips and dipped to the place where her necklace hung between her cleavage. "I've definitely been thinking about this," he whispered roughly.

She sucked in a shaky breath which caused her chest to heave up and down. Hooded dark eyes glanced up and connected with hers. She didn't see anything else other than him. Didn't think of anything other than him.

"I think we should get ready for bed," she whispered, encouraging him to move away. If he didn't stop looking at her like that, she was bound to kiss him.

If he didn't kiss her first.

"I'd rather stay right here," he told her, shifting even closer, nestling his hips against hers. One of his arms dropped and wrapped around her waist.

Makennah placed her hands on his chest to act like a barrier. "What are you doing?"

He smiled lazily, studying her features. "Holding you."

"You're drunk. You don't know what you're doing." Maybe she meant to say that to herself.

Theo shook his head. "Not that drunk." He swallowed roughly. "Tell me to stop."

Makennah's voice caught in her throat. She meant to. She thought it. But her mouth didn't move.

Theo's other hand laced around her neck, into her hair and delicately held her in his embrace. His fingers gently tilted her head back. Her eyes fluttered open and closed with each breath. Her chest moved against his with every breath.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized that she hadn't been held like this, hadn't been cared for like this, hadn't been looked at like this and hadn't been desired for like this since her last horrible relationship. That alone made her shoulders relax and her body melt into his.

If there was anyone she wanted to kiss - or anyone she wanted to kiss her - it was Theo.

The thought was both terrifying and thrilling.

Theo cocked his head slightly and bent his neck. His lips felt no farther than a whisper away. She parted her lips in anticipation. She was going to enjoy this.

The hand behind her neck weaved around to her jaw and cupped her cheek in his big hand. She rested her head comfortably there and enjoyed taking things slow. His thumb swept a circle on her soft cheek and grazed her bottom lip. She swore she almost whimpered.

Deliberately Theo placed his thumb perpendicular on her lips and he leaned in....

And gently kissed his thumb over her lips, a hint of a kiss, the gentlest touch. A dream of what could be.

It was horribly sweet and tantalizing. She wanted him to kiss her so badly.

Instead....Theo leaned back. "Trust me...I want you so badly. But I'm man enough to admit I won't stop after one kiss right now. So I'll wait."

Her chest inflated with a breath. Theo still molded their bodies together with the arm locked strongly behind her back.

"And yes, that means I'll be kissing you in the future. The very near future." One corner of his mouth lifted in a quirky grin. Although he didn't kiss her, Theo still looked at her with steamy eyes.

"I hope you haven't got my hopes up for nothing," she said lowly. Two could play at this game. "You had better be a good kisser."

Theo blanched and back away. Her entire body trembled with a chill in the absence of his body heat. "Baby, please. It's you I'm worried about."

She placed her hand over her heart. "Me? I'm a splendid kisser thank you very much." Several people had told her. She had even trained up a few guys herself. In fact, Makennah was a little pompous about it.

Reaching behind his head, Theo yanked his maroon shirt off his body. His glorious sculpted and toned chest and abs gleamed in the moonlight.

Undoubtedly he did that on purpose. Makennah was not about to fall for that.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He leaned into her ear as he passed her to the bathroom. "Or taste it." His lips grazed her ear and sent another chill down her spine.

Hesitatingly, she started do undress as he did his thing in the bathroom. She acted swiftly so that he didn't catch her naked. Knowing they would spend the night somewhere else, Makennah packed accordingly with a cropped white T-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms.

As much as she expected herself to be nervous, Makennah also felt safe. Even though it wasn't her bedroom or her space, a level of comfort soothed her nerves. His room was clean enough and particularly tidy for a teenage boy. His bed was made and the pillows fluffed.

Looking at the bed, she thought about lying next to him. She knew she had nothing to worry about. Not physically anyway. If he wouldn't kiss her, she couldn't expect him to make a move in bed.

It's not the physical she was worried about. It was her emotions. Inexplicably, they grew more and more entwined together. Hook her up to a lie detector machine and she would lose instantly if they asked her to describe her feelings for Theo.

Their connection was entirely unexpected but she was happy....really happy. She didn't know what was going to happen with Theo, and she might get hurt in the end. But he felt like a risk worth taking.

"Ready for bed?" Speaking of the devil, Theo exited the bathroom in his boxers. Makennah just looked away and veered towards the bed.

"I'm spooning you all night long. I hope you're prepared."

Makennah nervously giggled. She couldn't help herself. "I don't think so."

"That's the thing. You need to stop thinking," he explained.

Throwing the last of her inhibitions out the door, Makennah tossed back the covers and slid into the bed. Theo met her halfway and curled his arms around her.

Her heart beat so fast that she thought she might never fall asleep.

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I would love to hear your thoughts about Theo and Makennah! Drop a comment below :)

Xoxo

W. Carolina